The Ballad of Wallis Island review

 

In 2007 Tom Basden and Tim Key wrote and starred in a short film called The One and Only Herb McGuyer plays Wallis Island directed by James Griffiths in which a reclusive lottery winner Charles Heath pays folk singer Herby McGuyer half a million pounds to play a gig at his remote island home.  Eighteen years later the concept has been adapted by the same team into a full length film with the additional storyline in which Herb had been part of a duo who had split personally and professionally. Both are invited to the island without knowing the other will be present opening up their shared past and present situations. The film is a delight, a whimsical time spend on a mostly wet, windy island that nonetheless will warm your heart.

 

Comedy drama is a phrase that often means the former is prioritised over the latter until some final development that turns everything serious whereas this film manages to deftly mix both the comedy and the drama in equal measure. With Tom Basden and Tim Key having written the script but more importantly worked together on various projects for more than twenty years they have a rapport that works on screen. I did watch the original version in which, apart from the leads looking much younger, there is less context for Charles' motives but it is still charming in its way. 

The main addition to the story from the original short is Nell McGwyer who is now married and retired from music and sells homemade chutney in Portland. Charles is clearly hoping that when the two meet their musical and even personal connection will be restored and perhaps that’s what the viewer is thinking too but its not quite what happens. Its her arrival though that thaws out Herb and makes Charles a little less off-putting. In some ways the film isn’t about Herb and Nell; its about Charles trying to find some sort of closure but looking in the wrong place.

As Charles, Tim Key appears initially to be playing a similar role to that which he has utilised across a number of productions, most recently in The Paper where he plays a passive aggressive boss. Here his character is endlessly bantering, quipping away and conveying relentless enthusiasm for the music of McGwyer Mortimer. At first McGwyer finds this irritating even though his quips and puns are a riot. Just the way he delivers his lines about things like winning the lottery twice is so much fun. His gradually reveal as to the true size of this planned gig is funny too; “under a hundred” is his initial answer when Herb tries to pin down some details about the event.

While Charles appears to be the eternal over earnest fanboy his reasons emerge gradually and are far more tragic in the true sense of the world. As the plot unfolds you start to notice a melancholy about this character, a sense that he is chattering away about nothing to avoid talking about something more important. We learn the gig will be on the fifth anniversary of his wife’s death and that she was a huge fan of the band. Perhaps he is continually playing their music to remind himself of her? Hints about his loneliness (Charles declares his tennis serve is great because he always plays alone) and the over eager way he plies hospitality play into his inability to properly move on. In the end it is Herb who encourages him to invite the island’s only shop owner Amanda (a very well poised performance from Sion Clifford) to the gig as they clearly share an attraction .  It’s such a delicately managed performance that will alter your opinion of Charles by the end of the film. This is such a layered and engaging performance it may be the best thing Tim Key has yet done.

Tom Basden is excellent in the less showy role of the low key, jaded musician now deep in a solo career he doesn’t seem to like much and increasingly frustrated by his isolation in such a quiet, old fashioned place. Yet his initially grumpy demeanour  eventually thaws. He starts to perhaps like the island and even starts to think of Charles as a friend. The disconnect between the writer of the group's delicate songs and his closed off behaviour is interesting and Basden plays this so well. Carey Mulligan is a perfect choice for the warm, focussed Nell who may still eventually enjoy playing those old songs but is also sure about her new life. The scenes between Basden and Mulligan are hugely enjoyable and they turn out to be great singers as well. There seems no end to Basden’s talents as he also wrote the songs which are beautifully open eyed to convey the feelings of someone much younger. The character is reluctant to perform the songs now but Nell’s arrival means that the next day they are singing them together. The film doesn’t go where you expect; clearly Nell is not going to give up her current life to go back to music or to Herb but the brief time they reconnect sparks something positive for Herb to move forward with ultimately rousing him from his selfish outlook.

The film does have one necessary moment of contrivance that sees Nell’s American husband decide to go away to the other end of the island overnight to see some puffins therefore conveniently taking himself out of the way.  Also, the chronology is unclear but McGwyer Mortimer sound more like a Sixties or Seventies vintage rather than a group who would enjoy success in the Nineties as suggested here. This does though imbue it with a timeless quality despite some specific references to real musicians.  Nonetheless the script is extremely well honed to maximise focus on the performances and make the most of the location which was part of the Welsh coast near Tenby. The narrative seamlessly avoids the romantic and dramatic cliches you may expect. James Griffiths also ensures we feel the unpleasant  weather (there seems to be a running gag of McGwyer being soaked for various reasons) and also the rugged beauty of the landscape all shot in only eighteen days.

When the beach gig takes place with Herb singing to an audience of two (though not the two we were expecting perhaps) it is all the more magical for being grounded and featuring the elements around the characters. It underscores how important music can be when its tied to strong memories and good times but also that you need to move forward rather than wallow in the past.